


blackbird

by WeeBeastie



Series: hope springs eternal [2]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 12:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12299436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeeBeastie/pseuds/WeeBeastie
Summary: blackbird singing in the dead of nighttake these broken wings and learn to fly[silverflint + a baby, part 2]





	blackbird

**Author's Note:**

> This is for scrapbullet and everyone else who wanted more of this verse! I'm so in love with it already you guys, I'm so pleased to be writing kidfic for these two. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do!
> 
> Title and lyrics in the summary borrowed from "Blackbird" by the Beatles, obvs, as it's a song that reminds me very much of Silver.

Hope is sick, and for Silver, the world might as well have come to a grinding halt. 

It's nothing serious, just something sniffly with a sad little cough and the occasional sneeze. But Silver is consumed with worry for her, wrapped up in concern for his daughter. 

He paces the floors with her at night when she can't sleep, his crutch rhythmically thumping the wood as he walks with her all through the dark, silent inn, humming to her while she wheezes and coughs. On more than one occasion, she sneezes right in his face. He doesn't mind, just says ‘ah, bless you’ with affection every time and thanks whatever lucky stars he still has that she hasn't shared her illness just yet. 

One night he's pacing the floor of his and Flint’s bedroom with her after many nights of the same, and he's just...tired. He sits on the edge of the bed with her, then lies back, Hope cradled tenderly to his bare chest with her chubby hand gripping an eager fistful of his hair. He doesn't mean to, but he falls asleep like that, with the baby in his arms. 

When he wakes in the gray dawn, he panics, because she's not in his arms anymore. He's afraid he's dropped her or someone's taken her, that his worst nightmare has come true and she's gone. But as his eyes adjust, he sees Flint sitting in the chair in the corner, Hope on his lap, one of Flint's books open in front of them both. 

“...but Puck isn't very good at his job, you see? Oberon tells him exactly who to give the love potion to, but he gives it to the wrong person! The sheer incompetence of that boy, I swear. He reminds me of someone who used to claim to be a very good cook even though he was utter sh-- ah, utterly terrible,” Flint murmurs to Hope as she gleefully smacks the book with both hands, looking much improved from her illness and cuddled snugly in Flint's embrace. Flint looks up then, seeming to sense that Silver's watching him. “Look, Hope, speak of the devil. He's awake.”

“Don't let me interrupt you,” Silver says, feeling a silly grin stealing over his face. The sight of Hope on Flint's lap, chattering to him while he entertains her with one of Shakespeare’s less serious stories, is almost too much for his heart to take. “Has she been up long?” he asks.

“No, only a little while, I think. She was sleeping on you last I knew, and then I woke up to her putting her fingers in my nose and pulling my beard,” Flint says, chuckling. “We decided to get out of bed and read so you could catch up on your sleep.”

“Thank you for taking her,” Silver says quietly, eternally grateful to Flint for letting him sleep. He hadn't realized just how tired he was, but being up with Hope every night for the past week has taken its toll.

“I can help you with her more often, you know,” Flint says, gently shutting the book and setting it on the floor so Hope’s curious hands won't destroy its delicate pages. “I may not be as much of a natural with babies as you are, but I...want to be part of this. You gave me the opportunity to leave if I didn't want to raise her with you, and I'm here,” Flint says, looking down at Hope with a small smile on his face.

Silver's heart is most certainly melting into a puddle of sticky red goo, he's sure now. He clears his throat and blinks back inexplicable tears, then nods, hoping he sounds calm and casual. “I'm happy that you stayed. I'm sure she is, too. She needs both of us.”

“She does,” Flint agrees. He stands from the chair and lord help him, Silver will never get over the sight of Flint in just his breeches, hair a mess from sleep, with a pudgy baby girl in a diaphanous white gown resting on his hip. He walks over to the bed and sits down near Silver, handing Hope to him when they reach for each other.

“Good morning, lamb,” Silver says to her as she shrieks delightedly and grabs for his beard, tugging it with one hand while she pats his cheek none too gently with the other. “Yes, that's my face. Ouch. You're very strong for such a small thing,” he says, wincing.

“Da!” she exclaims, and beams at him, clearly proud of herself.

“Oh,” Silver says, and beams back, first at her and then at Flint. “Did you hear her? She's got a name for me,” he says.

“Of course she does, she loves you,” Flint says, sitting up in bed next to them and reaching out to smooth Hope’s silky dark curls off her forehead. “Frankly though I'm surprised she doesn't think your name is ‘you shit,’ given how often she undoubtedly hears me call you that,” he teases.

“Shit,” Hope echoes with an adorable hint of a hint of a lisp, and beams again, clearly waiting for them to praise her.

Silver bursts out laughing and hugs Hope to his chest, cradling her close and grinning over her head at Flint. “See what you've done? Here I thought I would be the bad influence.”

“Shit!” Hope says again, merrily, then squirms free from Silver and makes her way clumsily to Flint instead, grasping his arm in both hands to leverage herself to her knees. “Shit,” she informs him seriously, reaching one hand up as though to grab his hair, but he leans wisely out of her range.

“Come on, then, my foul-mouthed little parrot. Time to start the day,” Flint says, gathering her in his arms and leaving the bedroom with her, whistling a jaunty tune.

They don't have any lodgers at The Boat & Bird at the moment, which isn't terribly good for their finances but suits Silver just fine otherwise. The people of their village come by often to drink and eat at the inn, so it's not like they're flat broke. Now that they have a baby, Silver's been considering suggesting to Flint that they convert one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery and transform The Boat & Bird into a quiet pub rather than an inn. When it was just him and Flint, he didn't worry much about whether or not any of the inn’s clientele held potential for danger. They could protect themselves. But now, with a vulnerable little girl in the house, he regards every new lodger with a sharp eye and does his best not to leave Hope alone when there are strangers about. He doesn't trust anyone but Flint with her.

He leaves the bed and grabs his crutch, walking slowly down the hall to the kitchen, where Flint has already put the kettle on the fire for tea and is gently scrubbing at Hope’s cheeks and nose with a damp cloth. She's whining and squirming, pushing at Flint's hand with a displeased pout on her face.

“How does she get so unfathomably grubby every single day?” Flint mutters, obviously having heard Silver walk in. 

“I've caught her trying to eat a ball of dust before, so I'm sure that's part of it. I think she just wants to see and touch and taste everything. She's a curious little duck,” Silver says, brushing by Flint to get breakfast started for all three of them.

“Like you,” Flint says as he puts the rag down, either satisfied with the state of Hope’s face or unwilling to fight her on it anymore. He sets her gently on the floor and she makes a beeline for Silver, crawling noisily to his side and grabbing his crutch to pull herself to her feet. She's wobbly, but clearly determined and very pleased with herself for her achievement.

“She'll be standing on her own soon, I think,” Silver says, looking fondly down at her. “You'll have to be the one to teach her to walk,” he jokes darkly. He's confident in his abilities to teach Hope almost everything she'll need to know, but that - it's a sore spot for him and always will be.

“John,” Flint says in that particular tone he always adopts when Silver puts himself down, frowning at him slightly. “I'm sure it hasn't escaped her notice that you and I don't look exactly the same. I'm also sure she doesn't care in the slightest, and I doubt she ever will,” he says. “You heard her, you're her da.”

Silver smiles to himself, looking down at Hope and then over at Flint. “I'm so glad you didn't leave,” he says softly, feeling his heart leap into his throat when Flint strolls over to him and leans down to give him a deep, lingering kiss.

“As am I,” Flint says roughly when he pulls back, and they gaze into each other's eyes for a long moment, the air between them charged and alive.

“Shit,” a little voice says contentedly from below them.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [blackbird [PODFIC]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13249104) by [ponytailflint (inkgeek)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkgeek/pseuds/ponytailflint), [WeeBeastie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeeBeastie/pseuds/WeeBeastie)




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